Our loss in first Test blown out of proportion: AB de Villiers

Bengaluru: South African batting mainstay AB de Villiers feels way too much has been made out of their loss in the first cricket Test against India on a spinning wicket and says there is nothing wrong in the home team changing the conditions to suit its strength.

Just like India Test captain Virat Kohli, De Villiers too said that there were no demons in the Mohali pitch.

"Absolutely. Way too much has been made of it (loss in the first Test). It has been blown out of proportion. If you look at the batting scorecard of both the teams, no one has scored a hundred. Both teams struggled on the pitch. Both teams struggled against spin and looked foolish at times," he told reporters ahead of the second Test starting here on Saturday.

"We came out on the losing side because we did not play a couple of sessions to our full potential and that cost us the game. We could have batted better in the first innings; but unfortunately we didn't. And in India's second innings, we let it slip by 50 to 100 runs. We could have done better with the ball in hand. That's where we lost the Test match. It's got nothing to do with the wicket. Both teams struggled against spin; you can read the scorecard and see that," De Villiers said.

Stating that pitches in all the remaining three Test matches will be made to favor the hosts, Der Villiers said the Proteas have the firepower to counter any conditions.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with home teams changing the conditions to favor them and to favor their strengths. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I don't mind that. I feel we've got all the firepower to counter that. We showed signs of that in the first Test match but not for long enough. Hopefully in this Test match we'll find that rhythm and have more endurance than the opposition," he said.